Attn Getbiggers: Obama speaks out on steroids this morning!
By Ben Pershing (Published Today)
Sen. Barack Obama appeared to take a swipe at Sen. John McCain's activism on the subject of steroids in sports this morning, suggesting that the topic should not be a high priority for Congress or the federal government.
Appearing on ESPN Radio's "Mike & Mike in the Morning" program, Obama did not mention the Arizonan by name. But the Democratic presidential nominee did make clear that he would steer a different course than McCain has in the past when he was asked "how much government should be involved with sports and performance-enhancing drugs."
"I gotta admit that seeing a lot of congressional hearings around steroid use is not probably the best use of congressional time," Obama said
McCain has long been closely identified with efforts on the Hill to expose steroid use in baseball. In 2004, when McCain was chairman of the Senate Commerce, Science and Transportation Committee, his panel held a high-profile hearing on the subject, and McCain's scrutiny helped force Major League Baseball owners to implement a new drug-testing policy.
McCain said the following year that the league "can't be trusted" to handle the issue on its own, and threatened to write legislation cracking down on performance-enhancing drugs. A House committee also held highly-publicized hearings on steroids in baseball in 2007.
But Obama suggested this morning there were more important things on which the government should focus.